Weird suspension noise

rmorse · Post by **rmorse** » 11 Oct 2011, 06:58

Hey guys,

Weird noise coming from my 1998 V70 N/A, with 210k miles. It isn't a clunking, rather, it sounds almost like the rattles/squeeks that the dash makes. However, it is definitely coming from the drivers side strut.

Another weird thing is it doesn't happen when you push up and down on the hood of the car. I was able to reproduce the noise though, by grabbing the tire (with the car parked on the ground) and shaking it back and forth (pushing the top of the tire towards the engine bay and then pulling it back towards me).

Any ideas what this could be?

Post by **erikv11** » 11 Oct 2011, 10:13

First guess would be the spring seat.

Wrenchinjoe · Post by **Wrenchinjoe** » 11 Oct 2011, 10:24

+1 on the spring seat, they get noisy when they fail. Put a wrench on the top center strut nut and try to gently turn it. If it turns the spring seat is done. If it stays put, then keep looking.

If you are actually getting play by moving the wheel as you described, something is loose. Raise the front safely on jack stands, remove that wheel and put a wrench on every piece of the suspension. Make sure the control arm bolts, the ball joint pinch bolt, the sway bar link nuts, the two strut pinch bolts and the three nuts atop the strut bearing are all secure. Checking those is critically important in my mind.

Play in the wheel could also be associated with a loose wheel bearing, I have not needed to work on those (yet). I will defer to someone with experience as to whether that is an adjustable, or a replacement event.

midniteliquid · Post by **midniteliquid** » 11 Oct 2011, 11:09

I would also think it would be the Spring Seat.

Answering the last poster; the wheel bearings are in the form of a sealed hub assembly which is modular and replaced as a complete unit.

rmorse · Post by **rmorse** » 11 Oct 2011, 11:43

Don't think it's the spring seat, since wouldn't it make more noise on up and down vs side to side?

Post by **erikv11** » 11 Oct 2011, 12:05

I agree that part of the symptom is a little odd, but just check it. The spring seats are the weakest link in the strut tower, weakest link in the suspension period after the sway bar endlinks.

The top nut doesn't have to turn for the spring seat to be bad. If the spring seat is cracked and deteriorating you will get squeaking, but the top nut will not turn. The easiest way to check this (after doing the top-nut-turn test, which takes all of 3 minutes) is to just remove the top nut WHILE THE STRUT IS IN THE CAR. Don't mean to yell but there is a safety concern there for others reading this thread. Then you can look carefully at the spring seat and make a definitive call.

Probably next place I would look is the tie rods and the control arm ball joints. But those almost always clunk. I agree with what Wrenchinjoe posted - try to see where the noise is coming from, check for movement.